BEIJING, Feb. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Three Chinese engineers and a Pakistani driver were shot dead in the southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan on Wednesday, Chinese diplomats in Karachi told Xinhua.

    Informed about the murder Wednesday evening, Chinese President Hu Jintao showed deep concern for the safety of the Chinese engineers in Pakistan, urging the Pakistani side to investigate and follow up on the incident fully.

    Long Hongbao, Wei Jianpin and Zhao Bin were shot dead when the car they were riding along with three other colleagues was attacked by gunmen on a road in the town of Hub, some 700 km southeast of Quetta, the Baluchistan provincial capital, said Chinese diplomats.

    A gunman with a rifle stopped their car and opened fire. The other three Chinese survived with no injury, diplomats told Xinhua reporters.

    "It is an open act of terrorism. Terrorists have killed innocent Chinese who have come to work here to help Pakistan," said Pervez Zahoor, the region's police chief.

    Shortly after the incident, Chinese diplomats in Karachi took the other 11 Chinese engineers from the project to the Chinese consulate and helped take the victims' bodies back to Karachi, according to Chinese Ministry of Commerce in Beijing.

    The engineers were working for a Chinese company to prepare equipment and offer technical assistance in the construction of a local cement factory which will be completed in the first half of this year, said the ministry.

    The Ministry has activated a crisis management plan, forming a task force to cope with specific issues and requiring the related Chinese companies to dispatch working groups to deal with the aftermath.

    Hours after the attack, a tribal militant group called "the Baluchistan Liberation Army," contacted local media and claimed responsibility for the shooting.

    Meanwhile, the Pakistani government strongly condemned the killing of the three Chinese engineers in a statement, vowing to take all possible measures to prevent such evil acts in the future.

    "The people and government of Pakistan condemn in the strongest possible terms the killing of Chinese engineers," said the statement.

    "The killing of three Chinese engineers is an act of terrorism carried out to create a wedge between Pakistan and China," Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said. "The government of Pakistan is determined not to let them succeed in their reprehensible objective."

    Law enforcement agencies were taking steps to quickly apprehend the culprits and bring them to justice, she said.

    The people and government of Pakistan "salute the Chinese engineers who laid down their lives for development activities in Pakistan," she added.

    In Beijing, Chinese President Hu Jintao has extended his condolences on the death of the victims and expressed sympathy to their families.

    Hu also ordered the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and its embassy and consulates in Pakistan to put pressure on the local government to catch the murderers, ensure the safety of the Chinese there and properly handle the aftermath, according to sources with the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

    Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has also given similar instructions, according to the sources.

    Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing made an urgent phone call to his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Kasuri at 1:00 a.m. (1700 GMT) on Thursday.

    Li demanded that Pakistani authorities catch the killers as soon as possible and make their utmost efforts to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel in Pakistan.

    Kasuri, on behalf of the Pakistani government, again extended his condolences over the casualties and expressed sympathy to the victims' families.

    He asked Li to convey the concern and sympathy of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to Hu Jintao, and the same sentiments from Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to Wen Jiabao over the deaths of the Chinese engineers.

    The minister said his government will do its utmost to catch the murderers and take every measure to ensure the safety of Chinese people there, said the Pakistani minister.

    Three Chinese engineers were killed in a car bomb explosion in May 2004 in another area of Baluchistan. The bomb also injured nine other Chinese and two Pakistanis.

    In October 2004, Pakistani gunmen kidnapped two Chinese engineers near Jandala in Pakistan's restive South Waziristan Tribal area bordering Afghanistan.

    After five-day fruitless negotiations, Pakistani military forces conducted a rescue raid, leaving one Chinese engineer and all five captors dead. Enditem